Reflections on the speakership.

• Author: Milliken, Peter
• Position: Viewpoint essay

The effectiveness of the Speaker rests to a large extent on his or her perceived impartiality. The Speaker must be prepared to function as an adjudicator and even as a peacemaker. He or she must vigorously defend the rights and privileges of all Members, individually and collectively, without exception. He or she must listen actively and ensure that any decision is manifestly well-founded on the merits of the particular case and on the rules, jurisprudence and conventions. The rules must be applied to everyone, without exception. This article reflects on the key themes of a successful Speakership, particularly during a period of minority government.

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Although the House of Commons is no stranger to minority governments, most governments since Confederation have been majorities. Between 2004 and 2011, however, minority governments became the norm, and I had the opportunity to face the challenges of the Speakership in minority Parliaments, in particular that of ensuring the continuity in purpose and principal necessary in an institution such as the House of Commons. Indeed, the responsibility of the Speaker to act as the guardian of the rights and privileges of Members and of the House as an institution requires that he or she be seen to conform strictly to the highest standards of independence and impartiality.

What does impartiality in a minority Parliament mean? At all times, the Speaker functions as an adjudicator and even as a peacemaker, but this is particularly the case in a minority Parliament whose Speaker must vigorously defend the rights and privileges of all Members without exception. The Speaker must be respectful of the roles of leaders and whips and know how to deal with them. The Speaker of a minority Parliament should make particular efforts to remind the House regularly that he or she is there to serve all Members and the institution and to enforce only those rules decided upon by the Members themselves.

The ceremonial aspect of the Speakership is an important element of the Speaker's role in any legislature, but is again particularly important in a minority Parliament. The Speaker's parade, the mace, and the manner in which the Speaker enters the Chamber and conducts himself therein visually emphasize his or her impartiality.

As Speaker of the House of Commons, I made use of a variety of tools, not all of which are found in the Chamber, to allow me opportunities to reinforce the Members' perception that I was in office as Speaker to serve all regardless of party affiliation. For example, I instituted an ongoing series of dinners to which, in due course, every Member of the House was invited.

Members from each of the parties represented in the House were invited to each dinner, always in different groupings. The effect of this was to encourage informal social contact between Members from the different parties with a view to fostering an atmosphere of greater collegiality and, by extension, greater civility in the House.

In May of 2005, I used my casting vote to break a tie on a confidence vote for the first time in Canada's history. I voted in favour of 2nd reading of the government's budget bill, allowing the minority government to survive by a single vote--a decision that I took great care to explain in detail to the House in order to ensure that all...